


On Sibling Bonding and Research

by LadyKatWrites



Series: Exploring You Series [4]
Category: Atypical (TV 2017)
Genre: Awkward Conversations, Character Study, F/F, Fluff and Angst, Masturbation, Smut
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-12
Updated: 2020-02-12
Packaged: 2021-02-27 18:22:53
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,627
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22680133
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LadyKatWrites/pseuds/LadyKatWrites
Summary: Casey spends some bonding time with Sam and learns that alone time with Izzie is finally coming soon. However, Casey realizes that she is not as confident as she thought about her sexual experience, so she does some "research".Part 4 of the Exploring You Series.
Relationships: Casey Gardner & Izzie, Casey Gardner/Izzie
Series: Exploring You Series [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1624249
Comments: 12
Kudos: 135





	On Sibling Bonding and Research

**Author's Note:**

> This piece may seem like a little divergence along the way in the series, but it is something that I felt Casey needed before she and Izzie take things to the next level. And there is still smut, so... hope you like it!

Casey’s heart is pounding in her chest and her lungs are aching for more oxygen. Her muscles strain and it feels like the finish line is still impossibly far away, but she is running faster than she has ever run before, and she knows it. Coach Crowley is on the side of the track, stopwatch in hand, and as Casey runs hard through the line, she presses the button to stop the running clock.

Casey pulls up and gasps for breath, clutching at her sides. Her legs are shaking, but she stays on her feet to walk off the exhaustion. After almost an entire summer of putting herself through training hell, she has gotten used to the heady mixture of pain, adrenaline, and elation she feels when she finishes a hard workout. She knows that this was a particularly good run from the way her coach is smiling down at her clipboard as she records Casey’s time.

“Excellent work, Gardner. I’m really impressed with your improvement in the 800 meter distance. I know it isn’t your favorite--”

“Tell me about it,” Casey scoffs, but then shuts up when she sees that “don’t interrupt me” look from Crowley. 

“BUT, I think you really have a shot at making this distance your specialty, so I’m going to happily keep torturing you with it until you decide you love it,” the older woman says with a good natured smirk at her star runner. “Now get out of here and shower before I make you run another one just for fun.”

Casey doesn’t wait to be told twice. She grabs her keys, water, and gym bag and heads for her dad’s truck. The locker rooms aren’t open in the summer, so she has to drive home all sweaty and shower there. She doesn’t really care that much either way, but recently Elsa has been commenting on the lingering smell left in her car, and Casey is a little worried that her mom might actually force her to wash the seats, so today she opted for the truck. She is pretty sure her dad won’t notice a little extra sweat smell, but, just in case, she rolls down the window to air it out as she drives.

It’s only mid-morning, but the day is already hot and humid. Running in August is brutal, and Coach Crowley hasn’t eased up her training sessions at all. Casey downs the last of her now lukewarm water, the ice having melted long before she finished her workout, and turns on the radio to occupy her mind while she drives. 

She doesn’t recognize the song that comes on. Staying current on what is “in” to listen to has never really been Casey’s thing. Her phone is filled with music that she has mined from her own memories of her favorite experiences, as well as some fairly obscure stuff that she finds online. Mostly she only listens to the radio when she is in the car with Izzie. Izzie loves to sing along to everything she hears and always knows the new stuff coming out. It is really only by virtue of this that Casey has learned enough songs to join in with the spontaneous sing-a-longs on the bus with the track team. 

_I wonder if Izzie knows this one?_ She thinks as the song’s hook plays again through the speakers. 

And now that Casey’s mind has drifted to Izzie (as it has so many times this summer), she gets lost in the thoughts: Izzie sitting next to her in the car and reaching over to grab her thigh when a song she really loves comes on. Izzie covering her eyes and curling into Casey during a scary part of a movie. Izzie standing on the track that night they first kissed. Izzie pressed into her on the dance floor at Quinn’s party. Izzie grinding up against Casey in the ocean. 

Casey’s mind is full of Izzie and the experiences they have had in these first months of their relationship. Izzie is like a vortex that has drawn Casey in, and she has no regrets. Izzie warned her once when their relationship was new that she is “not easy”, but ever since they decided to explore their feelings for each other, life is more vibrant and infinitely more electric.

The drive home from the school track is a short one. Casey parks the truck in the driveway and heads into the house to shower off the now cooled sweat coating her body. As she walks in the door, she can hear Elsa and Sam in the kitchen talking about the apartment he and Zahid have found. She makes a mental note to ask her brother about it later and bounds upstairs to her room. A quick glance at the clock tells her that she only has an hour before her shift at the grocery store starts.

She takes a quick shower and heads back into her room to get dressed. As she towels off, she takes a look in the mirror to check out her body. She almost doesn’t recognize it these days. The crazy food and training regimine that Coach Crowley has put her on has given her muscle tone that she didn’t know she was even capable of having, and she has to admit to herself that it makes her feel good. 

When she started running, it really was more as an escape from her family life than anything else. She had no idea that it could become her ticket to getting to go to a college like UCLA. Now that it is a possibility, though, it feels like her life has been swallowed up by that goal. 

Between all of the training and trying to find time for her relationship with Izzie, Casey realizes that she is spending less and less time with her family. She doesn’t exactly mourn the loss of time with her parents, but Casey’s relationship with Sam is special. It may be the natural progression in a sibling relationship to grow apart a little as you grow up, but Casey’s relationship with her brother is different, and there is no way she is going to let herself lose it. 

She resolves that tonight will be a bonding night with her brother. Whether he agrees to it or not.

\--------------------------------

When Casey gets home from work in the evening, she pops her head into Sam’s room and sees that he is in his usual spot in front of his computer watching the penguin cam. She makes her way to her own room and strips off her work pants and shirt, electing to put on comfy cotton shorts and a tank top before opening the door to Sam’s room and flopping down on his bed.

“Hey. How are my black and white buddies doing tonight?” she asks her brother, who didn’t acknowledge her entering the room.

“Fine,” he answers her with a little annoyance in his voice and his eyes never leaving the screen. “Why are you in my room, Casey?”

Casey rolls her eyes. “Can’t I just want to hang out with my brother?” she pouts.

“Given the other things you could be doing, like running or texting with Izzie, I would say, no, not likely.” He doesn’t sound upset by this at all, it’s just the logical conclusion, and Sam likes logic. 

“OK, I know I haven’t been the best sister recently, but I miss you, Sam,” she starts. “You’re my brother and I want you to know that I am totally still there for you, you know, if you need anything.”

“Thanks, but I’m fine,” her brother shrugs, finally turning in his chair to look at her. “Actually, I thought I would be more nervous about moving out and into an apartment with Zahid, but right now I’m OK.”

Casey watches him to see if there are any of his telltale signs of stress, but he isn’t pulling at his hair or nervously playing with her hands, so she believes him. 

“I was just talking to mom about it this morning,” he continues. “Our lease starts this week, but I am going to take my time moving in. Mom suggested that I go over there to spend the night on Saturday for a dry run. She and dad are going to New York City overnight for a concert, but she says she has confidence that I won’t need them, and I think she is right.”

Casey gulps. “That sounds like a great idea, Sam.” She tries for what she hopes is a normal seeming nod as she takes in the implications of Sam’s words, but what she feels is something much closer to utter elation. Sam will be at the apartment on Saturday night and her parent’s will be out of town. Her stomach flip flops as she realizes what that means. She will have the house to herself for the first time all summer. _She needs to tell Izzie, like, now. Where is her phone?_ She realizes she left it in the other room with her work clothes.

Her ears are buzzing, and she is just about to make an excuse to go back to her own room, so she completely misses whatever her brother says next. She just nods her head and absently says, “Cool, cool.” But her attention snaps back to Sam when she hears her girlfriend’s name coming from his mouth.

“Wait, what did you say?” she asks.

“I said, I’m assuming you will have Izzie over. I mean, Mom and Dad will be gone. Don’t worry, I won’t say anything. I understand needing alone time with your girlfriend. Paige and I are lucky. We had the dorm. And now that I am going to live with Zahid, I am assuming that he will be much less strict than Mom and Dad about an open door policy.”

Casey sometimes marvels at her brother and his complete candidness about what he is thinking.

The next sentence out of Sam’s mouth, though, still takes her by surprise, “I mean, now that you like girls, I figure you want to see boobs just as much as I do. They are really nice.”

Casey almost laughs, but she sees that her brother is completely serious. She and Sam haven’t talked much about her sexuality at all since the Sven and Magic conversation months ago. She is happy that he (as well as the rest of her family) seem to have taken her relationship with Izzie in stride, but honestly, she has been so wrapped up in trying to determine her own feelings on who she is, that she had kind of forgotten to think about them.

Tonight, though, something seems right about opening up to Sam. She knows that whatever she says, she will get a genuine answer from her brother, so she decides to dive in.

“Huh! Yeah, I guess that’s true, Sam. At least, I know I want to see my girlfriend’s…” she can’t bring herself to refer to Izzie’s breasts as boobs. “But I’m still not totally sure if it is a feeling about girls in general or not…” Casey is starting to blush a little, but she actually does feel like she wants to have this conversation. She fights through her instinct to stop when things get uncomfortable. “I mean, I really, really like Izzie. I love her. I just don’t know everything that that means yet in terms of who I am as a person. Like, am I gay? Or Bi? Queer? I still don’t really know.”

As Casey tells her brother this, she realizes that she hasn’t really given herself a chance to figure any of that out yet. She isn’t much of a “labels” person. She knows she loves Izzie. She knows she wants Izzie. But talking about this out loud with Sam is kind of eye opening.

Sam scrunches his forehead up a little, trying to comprehend everything she is saying. She understands. Sam likes when things are black and white and everything is categorized into it’s little box, and what she is feeling these days definitely doesn’t fit in a box. However, eventually he nods and says, “Well, I am glad you found Izzie. Even if it is confusing for you. She’s always nice to me. She even lets me talk about as many science facts as I want. If you had to break up with Evan, I’m glad she’s the one you chose to be your girlfriend.”

“Aww, thanks, bro,” she says in a fake cheezy tone, but what he said affected her. Sometimes it is really nice to have an older sibling. 

She is just about to change the subject and suggest that they watch a movie together, when Sam freezes her with his next comment, “Well, on Saturday, when you have sex, can you make sure that it isn’t too loud. I don’t want Edison getting stressed out by a lot of strange noises when I’m not here.”

“Um…” Casey can’t quite figure out what to say to that one.

“I mean, I don’t know if you are usually loud. Are you usually loud? Because if so, maybe I should just put a blanket cover over Edison’s enclosure to muffle any noises.”

Casey is bright red at this point, but decides she better answer her brother, as he is looking at her with a slightly stressed out expression. 

“Honestly, Sam, I have no idea how loud we would be. We haven’t had sex yet.”

“You haven’t?” he asks, surprised.

“Nope,” Casey answers. “Not that we don’t want to, but, you know how it is trying to get alone time in this house.”

“Oh. Right. Well, in that case, I’ll put the blanket on just to be safe,” he decides. Biting his lip thoughtfully. “Also, I would be happy to give you advice if you need any. About girls, I mean. I did lots of research before Paige and I had sex. I know a lot about what girls like.”

“Research, right, how could I forget you did that,” Casey says. “I’m sure Paige appreciated it, but I really don’t want to talk about this with my brother, Sam.”

“She did appreciate it, actually,” Sam replied. “Well, if you are going to do your own research, I can tell you from experience, do NOT Google it. All you get is porn, and that,” Sam gives a little snort, “is not at all scientific or helpful.”

The conversation had now reached critical levels of awkwardness for Casey.

“OK. Thanks, Sam. Yeah, I’m sure we’ll figure it all out. And I promise I’ll remember not to disturb Edison. Can we please talk about something else now? Want to watch a movie?”

Sam just nods, “OK. Sure. I think there is a new nature documentary on Netflix.”

——————

Two hours later, Casey heads back to her room. The movie had been surprisingly good, and she managed to distract herself nicely from the conversation she and Sam had earlier in the evening.

She grabs her phone and shoots a text to Izzie: 

Me: Sam and my parents are away on Saturday night. Want to come over?

The reply comes in seconds,

Izzie: I’ll be there!

Casey feels a fluttering in her stomach. This is real. It is going to happen. Izzie is coming over on Saturday, and they will have a whole night alone. This is what they have been waiting for, and she knows they both really want it. 

So why, all of a sudden, does Casey feel more nervous than excited?

She pushes the feeling aside and climbs into bed. She is so tired after the hard workout this morning and working at her job all day that she figures she’ll fall right asleep, but an hour later she is still awake. The nervous feeling won’t go away, and now she is replaying the conversation she had with Sam over and over in her mind as well.

Casey has had sex before. Plus, she knows she is ready to take her relationship with Izzie to the next level. (Something that wasn’t really the case with Evan the first time.) And yet… what Sam said about needing advice on girls has made Casey realize that this is going to be a first time for her all over again. _What if I totally screw it up and can’t make it good for Izzie?_

She remembers her brag to Izzie back in the ocean a few weeks ago. “Just wait until I actually can touch you.” She had felt so full of confidence then. After all, Izzie had definitely enjoyed what they had just done. Casey had helped her come and it was amazing. 

But this time, she knows that Izzie will be expecting more, and she really wants to make it amazing for both of them. _Maybe research isn’t such a bad idea, she decides._

Despite Sam’s advice, she grabs her phone and opens up a private window. She feels pretty silly about it, but she shrugs and types in “how do two girls have sex?” Almost immediately her screen is filled with porn links. She clicks on one that looks (kind of) promising, and like it won’t give her phone some sort of crazy virus.

It only takes about 30 seconds of the video though before Casey is closing out the window. _Nope! Definitely not going to watch that._ To her annoyance, another window pops up when she closes the first one, and then another, and another. Finally, all remnants of that bad idea are gone from her screen, and she puts her phone aside.

Maybe she should just wait for Saturday and trust that she will know what to do. So far, when they have been able to have time alone together, everything has been amazingly hot. Casey thinks back to their make out session in the closet that had turned into touching and groping and, almost, more. She remembers how Izzie’s breasts felt in her hands when her nipples grew taut and responsive. She thinks about how she felt when Izzie’s hand travelled down her stomach and popped open the button of her shorts, dipping under the line of her underwear. She remembers the day at the beach and how Izzie's voice sounded as she begged and chanted Casey's name in the ocean.

Just thinking about Izzie like this makes Casey’s breaths come quicker and a throbbing start between her legs. She slides her hand under her tank top until her finger and thumb reach her nipple. She starts to flick it and then pinch it and, all of a sudden in her mind it isn’t her own hand touching her, it is Izzie’s. Casey yanks the top up until her breasts are exposed to the warm air of her bedroom, and she touches herself. Squeezing her breasts and playing with her nipples, imagining her girlfriend’s hot mouth coming down on them one at a time, her black hair falling around her face as she does it. Her fingers are Izzie’s tongue, flicking and teasing.

Casey is squirming in her bed from her ministrations, and she can feel how wet she is. She runs one of her hands down her toned stomach and over her navel. She slips it under her shorts and underwear, until she can feel the curling short hair just above where she wants to be touched. She brings her index and middle finger down between her own folds and they are met with hot, slick wetness.

Casey is not familiar with touching herself like this. She has almost no experience with sex, except what she had done with Evan. Before him (and even when she was with him), she hadn’t thought about it that much. Masturbation wasn’t even something she knew she would like.

Now, though, she wants this. She wants to know what she likes and how she feels. She starts to explore herself. Her fingers slide along her inner folds until she finds the hard nub at their apex, and she jolts with pleasure at the pressure. She closes her eyes, and again it is not her, but Izzie that is touching her. Izzie’s fingers stroking her hard clit. Teasing it as it grows even more sensitive. Izzie leaning over her, their brown eyes locking as she strokes.

Now Casey’s fingers are moving. Sliding down and inside herself. She stretches her arm down between her legs to get deeper and starts sliding her fingers in and out, imagining again that it is Izzie’s fingers fucking her. Her fingers move slow and then faster as the pressure begins to build inside.

Casey’s breathing is labored now. Her heart pounding in rhythm with the throbbing between her legs. She is so close to release. She brings her other hand to her breast and pinches her nipple. She pulls her fingers out of herself and back to her clit. With two sloppy hard strokes of the taut ball of nerves, her body arches off of the bed, blood rushing into her ears, and lights exploding behind her eyelids as her orgasm takes over her body. She shudders once, twice, and then falls back to the bed.

Pleasure courses through Casey as she comes down from the intense high. She is shaking all over and her breaths come deep and fast. She lies like this, content, mind blank for a few minutes, until her body is again calm. She opens her eyes to her empty bedroom. There is no Izzie here to hold onto tonight. 

But there will be. On Saturday. And now, Casey knows she will be OK. The nervousness is gone. She will be able to give Izzie everything she wants, and Izzie is exactly who she needs.

**Author's Note:**

> I know this piece doesn't "technically" have Casey/Izzie time, but this story is something I had outlined and planned from the beginning of the series. It marks the halfway point in the series. Stay tuned for ample amounts of Casey and Izzie cuteness in the next story!
> 
> Disclaimer: Characters belong to Atypical. I just take them out of their boxes and play with them for fun.


End file.
